Spider Man: Homeward Bound

ONE

ONE
The World Wants to Know,
Who is Spider-Man?

A shadowed figure frequently swings into a sixth story window in a rundown apartment building in Queens. In fact, it's a nightly occurrence. Every night is the same. The figure swings out off of the fire escape outside the window and finds its way back to it a few hours later. The whole neighborhood was rundown. A whole lot of people, but not a whole lot of action. It was quiet, everyone minded their business, which made it possible for this figure to swing in and out without a trace.

After entering that sixth story window, the figure, a man, shut the window behind himself. In the safety of his apartment, he removed the mask that once covered his face. It was Peter Parker. Now that would be more exciting if it weren't for the incident. You know the one. Doctor Strange casts a spell to make everyone forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man after being exposed by Mysterio. Peter messes with the spell and boom, the multiverse is real. In the end, after lots of fight and identity confusion, Peter sacrifices his identity in order to restore his realm of the multiverse. You get the gist.

All of these events happened a few months. Peter had been living this life since then. He was no longer Peter Parker, student at Midtown High, nephew to May Parker, best friend to Ned Leeds, Boyfriend to Michelle Jones (MJ) and basically, an Avenger. This Peter Parker had took GED classes in the evening at a different high school across Queens. He worked at a pizza place a couple blocks down to pay the rent. He had no connections, no family, no girlfriend, no best friend. It was just him. Him and Spider-Man.

Now Spider-Man was living a very different life than Peter. Spider-Man was a super famous superhero who was adored by the people of New York City. The loved him, they supported him. They thought the world of him. Peter Parker did not live like that. The contrast between the two things made Peter feel like he was a whole different person. The world saw him save people, be a hero. They didn't see him deliver pizzas or scrape by on rent, but that was his reality. Spider-Man was his escape from it all.

   Peter packed up his suit and placed it on a hook in the closest. There was really no point in hiding it. He was the only person who had crossed the threshold since he moved in. After he dressed himself in lounge clothes, he fell back onto his bed, just like people do in the movie. He released a loud sigh before sitting up on the edge of the bed. It had been a long night for Spider-Man. He stopped a bank robbery in Upper Manhattan. The last time he tried to interfere with a robbery was in high school. The robbers were dressed up as the Avengers and it was one of his first big encounters in the Stark suit. This time around, the mission was actually successful. He had come a very long way since then.

   He glanced over at the picture of him and his Aunt May. That may have been the hardest thing for him about erasing himself from existence. May was still dead, but this time, nobody was there to grieve with him. Before, he had Ned and MJ, who cried with him on the top of Midtown High. Now, he could only grieve by himself in private. Nobody knew that he was her nephew, because to them, she never had one. That was the hardest part of it all.

   Peter flicked on his tv. He had one of those old ones with the box on the back, which now, may even be more expensive than just a basic flatscreen. Nonetheless, he thrifted it for twenty-five bucks, so it was a steal. Every night, he watched the Daily Bugle. Spider-Man was on it every night and every night, J Jonah Jameson asked Spider-Man to reveal himself, which was weird watching considering he was the one who told everyone that Peter was Spider-Man in the first place. Jameson's aggressive delivery of the news sometimes made Peter laugh, which was a nice change of pace. He remembered MJ would always make fun of that man. She thought he was so dramatic and nosey. If she could see this now, she would have a field day with it. She always found joy in irony.

   As the news rolled on, Peter took a seat at his desk. He decided that with his most recent check, he'd splurge a little on himself and bought a LEGO set. He carefully put all the pieces together on his Luke Skywalker Landspeeder. Although it was no Death Star, Ned would have loved it. After he finished, he slipped into bed. This was his nightly routine. Every single night he thought so deeply about what his life was. It was depressing. The next day would bring a long shift at the pizza joint, but it could also bring a good thing too. Peter had applied to a city college. It wasn't MIT, but it was good enough. He was supposed to hear back any day now. He figured that would be the fresh start he needed.

   A fresh start it would be.